Professor * Via Email:

University of *

RE: Nomination of Professor * as UCI Distinguished Professor

Dear Professor,

The Department of * is currently considering Professor X for nomination as UCI Distinguished Professor. The Distinguished Professor title is the highest campus-level distinction and is reserved for senior faculty who have achieved the highest levels of scholarship over the course of their careers. Thus, Distinguished Professors will typically have earned national and international level distinctions and honors of the highest level.

We would appreciate your evaluation of Professor X in regards to this distinction. If you agree to write, it would be most appreciated to receive your letter on or before {insert date}. To aid you in this evaluation, a copy of Professor X's curriculum vitae is attached.

We realize a request for your assistance constitutes an imposition. We would, however, like to assure you that opinions of outside scholars such as yourself carry critical weight in the University of California. If you are unable to provide an evaluation of the type requested, it would be appreciated to hear from you at your earliest convenience. If you are willing to assist us in assessing the scholarly contributions of Professor X, we would appreciate receiving your letter within a month, sooner if at all possible. If you are prepared to write but need substantially longer than a month, please let us know as soon as convenient. Your letter may be sent electronically to, or hard copy original may be mailed to:

Department Address

Your individual comments will be held in confidence and will not be shown to the Professor X, unless required by law. However, if the Professor X requests access to his/her nomination, he/she will be provided with an oral summary of the confidential documents in the file at the conclusion of the review.

My colleagues and I are aware of the efforts that you will have to expend to prepare a letter of evaluation but the opinions of distinguished outside scholars weigh heavily in consideration of personnel actions at the University of California. As an authority in the field, your opinions will enter significantly in the University's deliberations on this case. If you would like additional information, please feel free to contact me at X, or via e-mail at X. Thank you in advance for your consideration of this request and, we hope, for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Professor and Chair

Enclosures: Vitae